Chris Camozzi: “Where most fighters break, I get better.”

There were probably a ton of fans who wrote middleweight Chris Camozzi off after the Ultimate Fighter 11 alumnus was cut from the UFC roster after a 2011 loss. However, Camozzi never gave up on himself, beating Joey Villasenor on the regional scene before another Octagon opportunity came his way. Though he came up short in that clash, Camozzi never let his focus get away from him and has since gone on to string together a quartet of consecutive victories.

To hear the 26-year old tell it, an ability to deal with adversity has been a crucial part of his career and separates him from the pack.

“Where most fighters break, I get better. I’m the kind of athlete or person when things get hard I push myself even more. When I see the blood running or something of that nature, I turn things up. Some fighters break when things get hard or they are a little bit hurt. If I get injured in a fight it motivates me even more and gets me going,” said Camozzi in a recent conversation with the UFC’s website. “I don’t know exactly why that is other than the fact I’m super-competitive and hate to lose at anything. I train so hard and just want to win so badly. I think I’m mentally much stronger than a lot of other fighters.”

The 19-5 Camozzi was also dealt a difficult hand for his tilt tomorrow night at UFC on FX 8 with brilliant BJJer Ronaldo Souza, agreeing to the effort two weeks ago after Costa Philippou went down with an injury. Of course, don’t expect Camozzi to complain about the circumstances.

“I have everything to gain and nothing to lose from this fight. I love being put in those situations where nobody expects me to win. Those are the situations I thrive on. I have nothing to lose and all the pressure is on ‘Jacare’. He has the big name and a trophy case filled with accomplishments. I’m just a last-minute replacement,” he explained. From what I’m reading online, nobody is giving me a chance in this fight, which is perfect. You can look back through history and see all the people no one gave a chance to who stepped up to capture the moment and rose to the occasion. This is that type of scenario for me and exactly the type of situation I thrive in.”

“It’s extremely motivating. Getting pumped up for a fight has never been a problem for me, but getting a big opportunity like this has given me a whole new boost of energy,” Camozzi concluded.

Camozzi has finished eleven of the nineteen opponents he’s beaten with a near-even split between submissions/TKOs. During his recent run he has found success against opponents including Luiz Cane and Nick Ring.